The use of cat litter boxes with commercially available clumping litter is well known in the prior art. Currently there are many configurations of litter boxes and many solutions for cleaning a litter box.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,676,090, 5,679,026 and application 2013/0133583 address litter tracking with no solution for hand scooping waste.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,027,761 and application 2009/0013935 involve separating waste from the clean litter by instructing the user to lift the entire load of waste and litter into a separator or changing the position of drawers each time litter is sifted and disposing of the waste right away as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,749,317 and 5,983,831. These patents also call for two litter boxes that will be used directly by the cat creating multiple surfaces that will have to be cleaned as such.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,997,137 teaches in one embodiment to dump all the litter and waste to a receptacle below in which a sifting bag is used to separate the waste from unused litter for disposal. Sifting bags trap clean unused litter as well as waste which is disposed of causing impact to the environment. This patent requires lifting the litter pan, heavy with both waste and litter, up to a dump position. The other embodiment requires the user to use a spatula or scoop to push waste through a flap to the receptacle below and only use the dump function when it is desired to clean the entire litter pan.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,810 includes two litter boxes used by the cat and will have to be cleaned as such. Also, only the bottom surface of the drawers is removed so the user will have to use a scoop or spatula to force any clumps stuck to the side walls to fall into the container below.
There are many litter boxes on the market that teach using trays that nest together with the top tray to be used by the cat with a bottom surface with openings to sift the litter. To sift the litter, the tray is lifted to allow the clean litter to fall to the solid tray below. This fails because cat waste gets stuck in the screen as wet waste material makes its way through the litter and reaches the sifting screen. This causes more cleaning of the multiple litter trays and difficulty cleaning the waste out from between the openings in the screen. While hand scooping litter or using the sifting litter boxes available there is spillage of litter on the floor and feet of the owner unless great care is given to the task. The prior art does not provide a solution for multiple problems associated with a litter box like preventing dogs who instinctively seek to consume cat waste and young children who put things in their mouth, from accessing the litter and waste. The available litter boxes do not take into consideration the individual cat's fear of dark spaces and many have non-transparent lids. They also do not provide a solution for the owner's need for the device to be attractive and blend with their taste in home décor and if they do, they are made of wood or other material that is damaged by contact with animal waste. There are open litter boxes that allow litter to be tracked outside the litter box throughout the home and covered litter boxes that require removal of the lid and set aside on the floor while hand scooping waste. These lids are difficult to seat back in place. Litter boxes accumulate waste stuck to the inside surfaces and this especially happens when the cat has recently used the litter box unbeknownst to the owner and they attempt to sift the litter before the waste has had time to dry. This contributes to the odor associated with litter boxes. An electric litter box has a motion sensor to ensure the rake is not activated while the cat is in the litter but electric litter boxes as well as the litter used in them can be expensive. Further the metal rakes become dirty with stuck on waste and are awkward and time consuming to clean.
There is a need therefore in the market for a litter box apparatus that provides a solution for a multitude of issues associated with a litter box instead of one issue.